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Ron Paul Fails to Secure Democratic Party Presidential Nomination

With the close of the Democratic convention it is now clear that Ron Paul will not be the Democratic Party's candidate for President in 2012. While Ron Paul did run second to Obama in New Hampshire, picking up almost 4 percent of the vote, he failed to score any actual delegates.

With the close of the Democratic convention it is now clear that Ron Paul will not be the Democratic Party's candidate for President in 2012. While Ron Paul did run second to Obama in New Hampshire, picking up almost 4 percent of the vote, unlike John Wolfe, Jim Rogers and Randal Terry, he did not even get close to potentially having any pledged delegates to support him on the floor. Though thanks to the open process of the DNC, much like Hillary Clinton, neither did they.

Pundits have speculated that not actually being on the Democratic Party ballot may have hurt Ron Paul's chances. Nevertheless Ron Paul did come in second in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, as he did in the Republican primary, giving him two options if he chooses to run again.

New Hampshire Democrats were as enamored with Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman as New Hampshire Republicans were, perhaps because they were both the same people, and gave them top billing. However Mitt Romney managed to defeat Huntsman to emerge in 3rd place in the New Hampshire Democratic primary with nearly 2,000 votes. Like Ron Paul, Mitt Romney was left without any delegates at the Democratic convention, but he did win the Republican nomination as a consolation prize.

Despite this result many will continue to wonder whether a Republican candidate could have won the Democratic nomination if he had campaigned harder. In West Virginia, Keith Russell Judd won 41 percent of the vote against Obama. If he hadn't been a prison inmate, it is possible that he would have done even better. John Wolfe won 41 percent of the vote in Arkansas. It is quite possible that if Ron Paul had seriously committed himself to a primary race against Barack Obama, history might have been very different. Or perhaps exactly the same.